Widener University presents
The Lake at the End of the World, a musical for young audiences, on November 3 and 4 at 2:00 pm in Alumni Auditorium. Suggested donation is $2 per person, with all proceeds benefiting Bernardine Center Food Pantry in Chester.
Matinees for local schools (by reservation) take place November 8 at 1:00 pm and November 9 at 10:00 am. For ages 5 and up. Running time is 45 minutes. For more information, contact director Lisa Eckley Cocchiarale at ljcocchiarale@mail.widener.edu
Drawn from an ancient Inca folktale, this play shows how a child, filled with truth and courage, can bring healing and hope. The music of Nancy Rosenberg leads us into another culture and energizes David F. Eliet's tale of a girl who reaches beyond what is expected of her as she saves her family and her people and touches the heavens.
When his son grows ill, the Inca king promises his own life to the fire spirit if his son's life can be saved. When the fire spirit claims that only the water from the magic lake can save the son, the Inca offers a reward for anyone who will bring the water. A young farm girl, Sumac, has a brother who covets this reward and sets out to find the lake but becomes discouraged and devises a plan to bring water from an ordinary lake. When his deception is discovered, the Inca sentences him to death. Sumac stays the execution when she promises to find the magic lake or die trying. With the help of talking sparrows, a magic feather and her own bravery against fearsome guardians of the magic lake, Sumac gets the healing water and brings it to the Inca. But just as things are about to end happily ever after, the fire spirit returns for the Inca's life. Instead, Sumac throws herself upon the fire spirit in the Inca's place, an action that transforms her into a star of hope for the world.
